Little Cat And Jade Series
by xrocksx
Summary: A series of Cat and Jade as they grow up.
1. My Valentine

So I finally got around to finishing the editing for the little Cat and Jade stories I had. I'm doing them in story format instead of individuals since they're one story. They could be read as stand alones since they don't follow each other directly, but they are all related and in chronological order, again telling the same story. I'm posting MV, WDIM and NO again. They went through more rounds of editing but only have very minor changes so you wouldn't miss anything if you didn't re-read them.

Oh, also, I wrote another one that takes place in between MV and WDIM because there was a huge gap there. So the second "chapter" is a new one.

* * *

Jade stood by the sandbox, head tilted to the side. She stared at the lone girl sitting on one of the swings. She pushed herself higher and higher; her bright smile growing as her distance from the ground increased. Jade looked at her curiously. She had never seen hair like hers before. It intrigued her. She was also intrigued by how happy the girl looked, even though all she did was swing; by herself. "Jaaade!" she heard one of her friends call.

Broken from her reverie, she turned to her friends and resume playing ball with them.

* * *

After that first time, Jade had seen the little girl in the playground several more times. She had sadly noted the girl wasn't in her class. Whenever recess rolled around, she felt herself getting impatient a couple of minutes before the bell rang and indicated the start of their play time. During recess she would steal glances at the girl, who often played on the swings. Today, Jade would do more than just look. After the bell rang and she walked outside into the playground, her eyes immediately wandered to the swing set. Her face brightened when she saw who she was looking for. Without even thinking she walked over to the swings and stood in front of the moving swing. She stood some distance from it to prevent getting hit as the girl gained speed and altitude. "Hi," Jade said, her head bobbing as she followed the girl's movements.

The girl beamed and cheerily greeted, "Hi!"

Then she stopped herself from swinging by dragging her feet on the ground. Looking at Jade she asked, "Do you want to push me?"

Even being a little girl Jade was no pushover. She wasn't the nicest little girl. But she was by no means malicious. She was taught to be polite and helpful. She said please and thank you. She helped her mother with groceries, her father with his car, her teacher with toys and her friends with drawings. However, she was no one's maid. She wouldn't help strangers. She didn't know strangers. So she didn't see a reason to help them. And yet when this little bubbly redhead asked her, she simply nodded and walked behind the swing to push her. She spent all recess trying to see how high she could push.

* * *

It was February 14. Jade's table was littered with valentine cards and some candy. All of the cards on her table were store bought with the exception of one. That one was handmade. She felt anxious and nervous as it got closer to recess. Finally, the bell rang. Jade got up, took the card in her sweaty hand and walked out of the classroom. Normally she hurried to the playground like every other kid; full of excitement to play. But today she took her time. Once outside she looked toward the swings. She was there again, already pushing herself with her short, tanned legs. Her bright red hair shining in the sun. Jade walked over to her. The little girl looked at her and smiled, as she continued to swing. Jade stood shyly next to her, in between the swings. The hand that held the card hidden behind her back. She looked down at the ground. The redhead stopped her swinging and looked inquisitively at the pale, dark-haired girl. Jade looked up and mustered up the courage to ask. She stuck out the card, arm extended in front of her. The little girl looked down at it curiously. "Do you want to be my valentine?" Jade asked.

The redhead giggled. "I am a Valentine!" she exclaimed.

Jade frowned, confused. "I'm Cat Valentine!" the girl said.

Jade still frowned not understanding what the girl said, until she realized that was the girl's name. She smiled and dropped her left hand, which held the card, and stuck out her right hand. "I'm Jade West," she said, proudly.

The girl took her hand and gave it a solemn single shake, but with a smile on her face. Jade looked down at the card she had made the previous night. Her shyness returning. "So, do you want to be my valentine?" she asked again.

Cat giggled again. "Yes! I'm your Cat Valentine!" she said excitedly.

Jade beamed and handed her the card. Cat happily took it. She giggled at the cute drawings of hearts and animals Jade had made. Inside, in big bold letters it read "Bee my valentine" with more hearts and one big bee and several small ones drawn on it. Jade hadn't known how unoriginal it was; she had happily drawn it and written it, as her mother spelled it out for her. Jade walked over to the other swing and sat down, pleased with herself. She looked at Cat when the girl spoke to her. "Do you want to be my valentine?" Cat asked with a slightly creased brow and a hopeful look on her face.

Jade smiled and gladly nodded her head. Cat's beaming smile returned and she giggled once more. "You're my Jade Valentine!"

This time Jade giggled too, liking the sound of it. Then the smile from Cat's face fell. Looking at Jade sadly she said, "But I don't have a card to give you."

Jade frowned at this too. However, Cat brightened up as an idea popped into her head. "I know!" she said and got up.

She walked over and stood behind Jade. She placed her new treasure in one of her pockets so it wouldn't get ruined and offered, "I'll push you."

Jade smiled and nodded. For the rest of recess Cat pushed Jade, trying to see how high she could push.


	2. Favorites

Jade fidgeted in her chair. She glanced over at Cat, who was looking at her. Cat smiled at her. Jade wished they could have sat next to each other, but they had to sit with their respective classes. "Caterina Valentine," called the woman at the front of the room.

Cat got up, a paper in her hand, and walked to the front of the room. The woman moved over to let Cat have the floor. Cat looked up. Her eyes met Jade's and smiled. "I'm Cat Valentine and these are my favorite things," Cat started. She looked down at her paper and read as fast as a little girl could read, helped by the memory of what she had written, "My favorite color is green. My mom has a necklace of a pretty rock, she says it's called emerald. That's my favorite kind of green. But sometimes gray is my favorite color. And sometimes blue."

She looked up at the audience smiling. She looked back down at her paper. "My favorite animals are cats," she giggled, "Like me. Sometimes they don't like to be touched, sometimes they're a little mean but they're furry and sweet inside."

Cat glanced at Jade then back at her paper. "My favorite food is sour patch candies. Cause they're two flavors in one." She looked up and continued without having to read from her paper, "My favorite place is Jade's backyard cause it's big and there's a big tree and sometimes her mom brings us chocolate chip cookies!"

Cat smiled, thinking about the delicious cookies. She looked at Jade, who was now smiling too. Cat looked back at her paper and continued, "This summer I am looking forward to going to Disneyland with Jade!"

Cat finished and bowed. The kids and teachers applauded her. She went back to her seat. She looked at Jade and gave her a reassuring smile. Jade was back to being nervous. She held Cat's gaze as the teacher at the front talked then introduced her. She took a deep breath and got up. Crumpled paper in hand. She stood in front of the room. She looked at Cat as she started, "I'm Jade West. These are my favorite things." She looked down at her paper, which she tightly held onto, "My favorite color is red. It's the color of fire."

She looked up at Cat, who remained smiling. Looking back at her paper, she said, "My favorite animals are cats. Specially the little ones. They're fuzzy, they have big eyes and they're cute. My favorite food is spaghetti cause it tastes good and I like how it sounds when I slurp it."

She looked up and demonstrated slurping. Some of the kids giggled, some nodded and others slurped along with her. Jade smiled, feeling a lot better. She looked back at her paper. "My favorite place is Cat's room. It's pretty and she has nice toys and a big imagination. Anything can happen."

She looked up again. "This summer I'm looking forward to going to Disneyland with Cat."

Jade was really excited to go to Disneyland. The Valentines had invited her along and she was looking forward to meeting Donald Duck, who was her favorite Disney character. She bowed too and went down to sit. She locked gazes with Cat and they both smiled at each other.


	3. What Does It Mean

Jade and Cat played hopscotch on the blacktop by the monkey bars. Cat happily took aim to throw her rock at the chalk drawing until Jade started teasing a little boy. "Ew, you're gross!" she said and emphasized her point by scrunching up her nose in disgust.

Cat straightened up and turned to look at them, having caught the reason Jade thought the boy was gross.

Jade turned when she heard Cat's shoes twisting and scratching the blacktop. She watched as the girl walked away, without a word, to the swing set. A little confused Jade followed her.

She walked behind the swing ready to push Cat, who was already sitting on it. But she wasn't able to as Cat got up from the seat and walked away, looking mad. Jade's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She didn't know what was going on but she wasn't stupid, clearly Cat was mad, seemingly at her. With a huff, she sat down on the swing Cat had just vacated. She wasn't about to go to Cat just to have her walk away again.

During class Jade sat feeling antsy in her chair. She had struck some luck this school year, she and Cat were in the same class. However, that's as far as her luck had taken her. Since the seating was done alphabetically Cat and Jade should have been sitting next to each other. But there was another girl whose last name succeeded Cat's. A Hispanic girl with the last name Vega. Jade immediately disliked her for getting in the way of her sitting next to Cat.

Jade shifted in her seat. As time passed she felt herself going from frustrated to annoyed. She had no idea what was wrong with Cat and she was tired of trying to figure it out. She was further annoyed by the fact that Cat's mood was directed at her. Finally the bell rang. Jade jumped from her seat and quickly packed her big wide rule notebook, crayons and pencil onto her Sesame Street backpack. She hung her backpack on her shoulders and hurried to walk out behind Cat. Once outside she grabbed Cat's wrist to halt her. She pulled her to the side so they wouldn't get run over by the eagerly departing children. She'd had enough of not knowing, she would find out right now. Cat turned to look at her. "What's wrong?" Jade asked, letting go of her wrist; her brow creased and face serious.

Cat briefly looked away then looked at Jade. She no longer looked mad but sad. "You were mean today," she answered, with an almost visible pout that was definitely audible in her voice.

Jade's brow creased further at Cat's words. "To that boy," she explained and walked away.

Jade remembered the little boy she had teased in the playground. She hurried her steps to catch up with Cat and walked next to her.

"I heard my brother and his friends talking about it. He said it was gross and sick," she explained.

"Well it's not," Cat said.

"It's not?" Jade wondered.

Cat shook her head firmly. That was enough for Jade. If Cat said it wasn't wrong then it wasn't. Period. "Oh," she said. "What does it mean?" she asked in all her childish innocence and curiosity.

Cat was quiet for a moment, thinking how to answer. Her mother had given her a long explanative answer that sounded complicated to Cat's young ears. Her mother had fidgeted in place, Cat staring up at her inquisitively and expectantly, as she tried to explain in a way that wouldn't confuse the little girl or start a string of questions with answers a child couldn't fully comprehend. Finally Cat decided on a simple answer. "A boy that likes a boy and a girl that likes a girl," she said and smiled proudly at having answered the question and teaching Jade a new word.

Jade smiled and exclaimed, "Then I'm gay! Cause I'm a girl and I like you."

Jade took Cat's hand and the girls walked out of school, hand in hand, smiling.


	4. Nurse's Office

The second it happened, Jade felt like tearing the girl a new one. Both Jade and the girl rushed to Cat, the basketball rolling away, forgotten. "I'm sorry," the little blond said.

"Are you okay?" Jade asked at the same time.

Cat got up. She had fallen on her knees and instinctively moved her hands in front of her to not fall on her face, landing on all fours. She was torn between rubbing her throbbing head or her stinging knees. She decided rubbing anything wouldn't help since her hands were scraped too and would only hurt. Tears were stinging her eyes but she wouldn't cry. Jade saw Cat's knees and shot the blond a dirty look, which was missed by the girl since she was looking at Cat and apologizing. "It's okay," Cat reassured her.

"We should go to the nurse," Jade said and completely disregarded the other girl.

She gently took Cat's wrist and walked her to the nurse's office. She noticed Cat wasn't walking normal. "Do you want me to carry you?" Jade offered.

Cat smiled. She could walk the rest of the way but she loved piggyback rides. She nodded. Jade smiled and bent down. Cat carefully got on her back, as to not topple them over and so her injured knees wouldn't graze against Jade. Jade groaned as she lifted herself and Cat up. Cat wrapped her arms around Jade's neck. Jade bounced them all the way to the nurse's office, which was located inside the main office. She got a weird look from the woman behind the main desk as she walked over to the nurse's opened door. When she was in the door frame she dropped Cat off. Cat walked in and the nurse immediately saw what was wrong. She told Cat to sit on the bed; Cat did as she was told. Jade stood in the doorway watching. As the nurse walked to one of the counters to get the supplies she would need to clean and bandage Cat's knees, she looked over at Jade and told her she could sit on the chair that stood across the counter and in front of Cat. She walked in and sat down. She watched as the nurse wiped the dirt from Cat's cuts and then put antiseptic on them. She finished by putting big square Band-Aids on Cat's knees. She told Cat it might be more comfortable if she left her hands without band aids; Cat nodded. The nurse walked over to the supply counter again and grabbed a lollipop. She walked back to Cat and handed the candy to the little girl. Cat's beaming smile appeared on her face. The nurse smiled at seeing the little girl smile. Cat had been a good girl, she hadn't cried or argued or fought her. She even kept her hiss in when she had applied the stinging antiseptic. She looked at Jade as Cat got up from the bed to leave. The girl gave her a sad look. She didn't say anything but the nurse knew Jade wanted candy, too. She grabbed another lollipop and gave it to Jade. The dark haired girl too brightened up.

Once the girls were outside of the offices and they walked back to the playground Jade lifted her candy to Cat, silently offering it to her. "You don't want it?" Cat asked, her words a little jumbled as she was already eating hers, the handle sticking out of her mouth.

Jade shook her head. "I got it for you."

Cat smiled and happily took it. "Thanks," she said.

She forgot all about the pain she'd previously felt.


	5. Loves Me, Loves Me Not

Jade and Cat lay on Jade's backyard under the giant tree in the middle of the yard. Jade lay on her back, looking at the sunrays shinning through the leaves. Cat laid next to her on her stomach, playing with the grass and little yellow flowers that bloomed here and there. Jade turned her head to look at Cat, who was propped on her elbows plucking a poor tiny flower to see if Jade loved her or not. Jade looked at her with a smile on her face, amused. Cat took another tiny petal and said, "Jade loves me."

_Pluck_. Another tiny petal. "Jade loves me not."

She said it playfully but whenever she got to the negative statement a slight frown would form on her forehead.

She got to the last petal and with a big smile on her face she proclaimed, "Jade loves me!"

Jade giggled. Cat looked at her and giggled along with Jade. After they were finished giggling Cat leaned over and gave Jade a kiss on the cheek. Jade pressed her lips tight to hide a smile that showed nonetheless, and looked back up at the tree with blushing cheeks.

"Jade?" Cat asked.

Jade turned to look at her. Cat was looking down at the grass, playing with it nervously. "Yeah?" Jade asked.

Cat was quiet for a moment. Without looking up she finally asked, "Do you love me?"

Jade was taken aback by the question. And Cat's demeanor. Cat was normally confident and either unaware or didn't care about other people's opinion of her. She smiled thinking it was cute. Jade was quiet waiting for Cat to look up at her. Cat got tired of nervously waiting for an answer so she looked up at Jade to ask again. But didn't have a chance to ask again as Jade answered once Cat's eyes were on her. "Yes," Jade answered and this time she gave Cat a kiss on her cheek.

Cat giggled and practically threw herself on Jade, wrapping her slender tanned arms around the other girl. "I love you too," she said.


	6. Halloween

Jade and Cat skipped happily, pumpkins swaying in their hands. They skipped over to the next house, where the owner was already outside. She waited for all kinds of monsters, angels, and other creatures. Jade and Cat stepped up to her with smiles on their faces. "Aw, what a cute vampire and cat you are," said the older woman, putting a variety of chocolates in each of the girls' pumpkins.

"I'm not cute, I'm scary," Cat said, hissing and baring her fake fangs.

Her mother chuckled behind them and the woman in front shuddered. "You're right. You are scary," she said, looking scared.

Cat smiled proudly at having scared the woman.

"Have a happy Halloween," the woman said cheerily.

"You too and thank you!" The girls said in unison and turned around.

They walked around newcomers and headed to the next house. As they reached the entrance of the driveway, they came to a stop as a girl walking in front of them on the sidewalk got bumped. Her candy bag fell out of her hand, onto the ground, where some of her candy landed in a puddle on the shoulder of the road. She quickly bent down but saw that most of her candy was ruined. "Oh sweetie," her mother said with sympathy and helped her daughter pick up what wasn't ruined.

Seeing that most of her treasure and effort was gone, the little girl started crying. Jade looked down at her pumpkin. She had collected a nice amount of candy throughout the night. She looked up and let go of Cat's hand. She walked over to the crying girl and said, "You can have some of mine."

The mother and crying girl looked up. The little girl that was dresses as a fairy, now calmer at the offer, sniffed while looking at Jade with big watery eyes. "It's okay, sweetie. But thank you," the mother said gently to Jade.

Jade smiled and said, "I don't mind. I have a lot."

She stuck out her pumpkin in offering. The girl glanced at her mom, who nodded. She straightened up and dug into Jade's candy. Jade let her take whatever she wanted. The girl got a couple of handfuls and happily smiled at Jade. "Thanks!" she exclaimed.

The mother thanked her too and they went on their way. Jade turned and stepped back with Cat and her mom. She missed the smile Cat's mom was giving her but saw Cat's since her eyes were on the redhead. Cat grabbed her hand and started to direct them toward the next house. "You can share mine," Cat informed her happily.


	7. Rainy Days

Jade liked rainy days. She liked the gray skies, the pounding of drops against the windows and roof, the feeling in the air, she liked seeing the rain fall from her bedroom window and the cookies and milk her mother would bring her. But at school, Jade liked rain most of all because it meant recess was inside. She liked playing outside in the playground, but there was something about getting to play inside once in a while.

As she heard the soothing sound of the rain hitting the windows, she watched as Cat concentrated on their patient. She stuck out her tongue as she attempted to remove his funny bone without buzzing. Once she accomplished the task successfully, she grinned triumphantly. Jade smiled and took her turn. She too gave it all her concentration. "Can I play with you?"

_BUZZ_. She failed. She frowned and looked at the girl who had interrupted them. Vega. Cat was nodding but Jade still responded, "No."

She already shared a desk with her, she didn't to share the game, too. Especially when this was her time with Cat. "Oh," said the olive-skinned girl.

"Yes, you can," Cat said nicely, looking up at the standing girl.

Jade shot Cat a betrayed look. Cat knew Jade didn't like the girl, she hadn't been shy about it. Tori smiled at Cat and sat down, disregarding the fact that Jade didn't want her there. "I don't want to play anymore," Jade said and dropped the tweezers on their patient.

Cat looked sadly at her, but then brightened up and asked, "What should we play then?"

"Hide," Jade said, looking pointedly at Tori.

"Hide and Seek you mean," said the girl.

"No. Hide," Jade retorted.

Tori frowned and mumbled how they couldn't play that in the classroom anyway. "Let's play with the Legos," Cat offered.

Cat loved playing with Legos. "I don't want to play with you," Jade said to Tori, as bluntly and honestly as any young child does.

She looked hurt but didn't say anything. "I do," Cat said nicely.

She smiled at Cat and it gave Jade a funny feeling in her stomach she didn't like. "It'll be fun, Jade. Come on," Cat said smiling at her.

Jade didn't want to but she figured she could just ignore the meddling girl. "Okay," Jade managed. They traded the Operation game for the Legos and sat on the floor building spaceships, houses, castles, cars and other figures.

Jade looked at the intruder and frowned, then she looked over at Cat and smiled at her concentrated face and tongue that was sticking out once again. They all jumped when they were startled by the loud thunder. Cat looked frightened. She couldn't see out the window since the blinds were drawn, but she still stared at them worriedly. Before Jade could sooth her, another loud noise broke through the sky making Cat jump again. This time Cat scooted over to Jade and wrapped her arms around the other girl's left arm. She buried her face between her arms and Jade's.

Jade loved rainy days.


	8. The Perfect Gift

For some strange reason it hadn't occur to me to write one of this of their birthdays. So this chapter and the next come from the suggestion made by **lovexarcade**.

* * *

Jade wrung the hem of her shirt between her hands. She berated herself internally; she shouldn't feel so anxious and nervous, but she couldn't help herself. This was for her best friend. For Cat. And Cat was special. She had to get her the perfect gift.

Her mother and her had already been to several different stores in the mall, but she had said no to every suggestion her mother had given or shown her, and she herself had failed to find anything worthy. They stood in a store that sold accessories such as hairbands, earrings and scarfs. Mrs. West lifted a pair of beautiful, colorful silk bows, but Jade shook her head. Not good enough. Her mother sighed. She was tired of looking around the mall, and nothing seemed to be good to her little girl. "Well Jade, we've pretty much looked at everything. Are you sure you don't want to make her a bear? It's personalized," her mother suggested again, but Jade shook her head.

She thought Build-A-Bear presents were lame. And not special enough. Cat would probably like it since she loved stuffed animals, but Jade had decided this had to be the best present ever, and a stuff animal certainly wasn't it. "Okay then, this search will have to wait because I'm tired of looking around for this perfect present you're so adamant to find," her mother said.

Jade exhaled, deflated. She didn't want to give up yet, but her mother was right. And she too was tired of looking. Maybe it was better if she figured out what the perfect gift was instead of waiting for it to reveal itself. She went over the things Cat loved, once more, as they walked across the mall back to their car. Jade sighed again, her feet hurt and her mind drew a blank.

She glanced at the stores as she walked by them. Her eyes drifted to the store they were approaching, one they had not entered, when something caught her eye. Without warning, she hurried toward the store. "Jade!" Mrs. West yelled, as her daughter ran off.

But Jade didn't stop. She had to see it. She rushed into the jewelry store and stared at the item that had caught her attention. It was so simple and yet so...perfect. That was it. That was the gift. "This is it," she said, as her mom stood next to her, and she tapped on the glass.

At home, Jade opened the small shiny box and looked at the gold necklace, a thin elegant chain with a tiny gold heart. Subtle, but beautiful. Jade smiled, looking at it. It had cost her all the allowance she had saved up and now she had extra chores, but it was worth it. She had found the perfect gift.


	9. Happy Birthday, Jade

Two updates in one, isn't that nice.

* * *

Cat lay in bed clutching the edge of her blanket; she had barely slept, being excited for her best friend's birthday. When her alarm went off she jumped off the bed and hurried to get ready.

At Jade's party, she rushed to the backyard, where the party was mainly being held. Jade, who had kept a look out for her, immediately saw her and rushed off to greet her. Cat hugged her excited. "Happy birthday, Jade!" she exclaimed happily and pulled back to hand Jade a wrapped package.

"Thanks," Jade said, with a smile on her face, and took the present.

They walked off to the table where the presents were and placed it in the middle of the table, wondering what it was and telling herself to be patient. She grabbed Cat's hand and dragged her to the jumper. The girls bounced happily. "Look, look!" Cat said and did a cart-wheel.

Jade watched as Cat tumbled around, then she took her turn and showed the redhead what she could do. As they happily played around the bouncy house, they giggled and enjoyed each other company's.

Until Jade was struck on the face. She fell down, landing first on her butt then back, her head bouncing on the inflated contraption. It happened so fast that for a quick moment she was frozen. Then her hand flew to her face to gently press where it was already burning red. Cat rushed to her side as she sat up. The boy who had hit Jade, on accident, started to laugh, not sorry at all. Jade was angry, and looked it, but she was also holding back tears. Cat looked up at the little boy, she was angry too. She understood accidents happened, but now the boy was being mean. "Hey," she said, her tone lacking her usual friendliness. "You should apologize."

The boy started jumping in place, teasingly. "Why? It was funny," he replied, a smile on his face.

"Because you hit her," Cat said, her little face scrunched.

"She was in my way," the boy said and started to jump away.

Cat, still frowning, turned to her friend, who still had her hand pressed against her face and was now frowning at the floor of the bouncy house. In the back of her mind, it struck Cat how quiet Jade was being. Cat turned back to the boy and stood up. She walked over to him and demanded, "Apologize."

"No," the boy refused.

Cat, who disliked and didn't result to physical confrontation, pushed the boy hard enough to make him fall. He bounced just as Jade had.

Angry, he turned and said, "Hey!"

"Sorry, you were in my way," she said sarcastically, and stuck her tongue out at him, before walking away.

When she reached Jade, the girl looked up at her with a smile on her face. Cat smiled at seeing Jade's smile return and that she was feeling better. As Jade got up, Cat turned around and narrowed her eyes at the boy, just to make sure the boy would not bother them again. The boy's shoulders shrunked minutely and stomped out of the bouncy house. Jade smiled, proud of Cat, and grabbed her hands so they could resume their bouncing.


	10. Girlfriend

"Girls can't have girlfriends," the little blond boy said.

"Yes, they can," Cat said, vehemently.

"Nuh uh," the boy argued back. "Boys have girlfriends and girls have boyfriends."

"Well Jade is my girlfriend and I don't care what you say," Cat said with finality, stomping her right foot, then grabbing Jade by the wrist and hauling her away.

* * *

Later that day, at home, Cat walked to her mom, who was sitting at the table, working on some papers. "Mom," Cat said, catching her mother's attention.

"Hmm?" her mother asked.

"Can girls have girlfriends?" Cat asked.

Mrs. Valentine chuckled. "Yes, they can," she answered.

"Cause a boy at school said they couldn't, but I said they could," Cat explained.

The woman smiled at her daughter, who was clearly, to her, a smart, persistent little girl. "Well you were right, girls can have girlfriends, boys can have boyfriends, and sometimes they can have boyfriends and girlfriends." Her mom said, then, smiling, wiggled a pointed index finger. "But not at the same time."

Cat smiled and asked, "What do they do?"

Mrs. Valentine smiled again, amused at her daughter's inquisitiveness. The redhead was a well of questions and curiosity. "Well. . . they hold hands and share special things they don't share with anyone else," she answered.

Cat beamed. "That's what Jade and I do!" Cat exclaimed happily.

Her mother chuckled. "Jade?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, she's my girlfriend," Cat answered matter-of-factly and skipped off to her room to play.

Mrs. Valentine chuckled again and shook her head, amused, wondering if Cat knew what she was talking about.


	11. Story Time

The prompt for this chapter was provided by PunkyStarshine, after I threatened to drop her in a tank full of hungry alligators. She also told me the story that Jade tells. I had never heard it before.

* * *

Cat had been very excited for her sleep over with Jade; not only was she going to spend the night at the girl's house, but they were going to camp out in the backyard. But now, as she stared up at the dark, starry night, she felt a knot in her stomach.

Jade wanted to go in the tent and tell scary stories by flashlight. Cat wasn't fond of the idea. "Come on Cat, it'll be fun," the dark-haired girl said enthusiastically.

Maybe for her, Cat thought. Scary stories were not her thing. However, when she looked over at Jade and saw a big smile plastered on her pale face, Cat couldn't say no. With a tiny smile, she reluctantly nodded and started to get up.

After Jade had gone inside to ask her parents to turn off the back porch light, it was much darker in the tent than it had previously been. Cat curled up inside her sleeping bag, while Jade let it lay loosely around her. She turned on the flashlight and held it underneath her chin, giving her a sinister look. She smiled wickedly. If this hadn't been Jade, Cat would have been scared of the girl in front of her.

Jade opened her mouth, then closed it, thinking better of making up a story that took place in her house. Instead, she recounted a story she remembered being told long ago. She started with a low voice, setting the mood. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl, about seven years old, who was left home alone."

Cat gripped the sleeping bag tighter around herself, squirming to submerged herself into it as much as possible. Jade looked at a cocooned Cat for a second, before continuing. "Her thoughtless parents left her with only her dog to keep her company." Jade kept speaking in her low voice, drawling out her words, making sure to build the suspense. "She decided to go to sleep, so she wouldn't feel the emptiness of her house."

Despite the knot that only seemed to be increasing in size, in the pit of her stomach, Cat hung onto every word that came out of Jade's mouth. "She went to bed and stuck her hand under the bed."

Cat braced herself, expecting some kind of monster to take hold of the girl's hand. Jade paused for a couple of seconds, just long enough for the tension in the air to grow. "And...her dog licked it, like he did every night, to let her know everything was safe."

Cat let out a breath. "A while later, she was woken up by a faint noise. _drip. drip. drip._"

Cat's muscled tensed again. "She got up and went to check the sink in the restroom. After making sure it was closed, she went back to bed and stuck her hand under the bed, to make sure nothing had gotten in during her trip. Her dog licked her hand again, so she went back to sleep.

A while later, the sound came again." Jade leaned in a fraction, her words precise, intoned.

"_Drip. drip. drip_. She went to the kitchen and checked that sink. After making sure that one was closed too, she went back to bed, and again stuck her hand under the bed. Her dog licked her hand again, so she went back to sleep. As she was falling asleep, she heard it again..._drip. drip. drip_."

Jade leaned in another fraction. "This time she perked up her ear. The noise sounded like it was coming from inside her room. So she turned on the light to see what it was."

Jade leaned in again. Cat's hands clutched the sleeping bag tighter. "When the light came on...she screamed!" Jade raised her voice on the last word, and let out a short cry, while simultaneously smacking her hand on the floor of the tent, emphasizing the effect.

Cat jumped, startled, and let out a scream of her own. Jade smirked. But she wasn't done. She leaned in and continued in her hushed tone, even though Cat couldn't see her as she had shut her eyes. "Her dog was hanging from the ceiling fan, _driiiiiiping_ on the floor. On the wall, written with blood, it said..."-Cat hunched and wished she couldn't hear what Jade was about to reveal-"_'Murderers can lick hands, too_.'"

Jade, with a quick hand, reached out to grab one of Cat's hands, successfully making the girl jump and yell again. This time Jade couldn't hold it in, and laughed at the redhead's reaction. "That's not funny, Jade!" Cat exclaimed with a pout on her face.

Jade calmed her laughter at seeing the scared looked on Cat's face. But an amused smile remained on her face. The shorter girl looked like she might jump out of her skin at any moment. Even in the darkness of the tent, Jade could see her tanned skin had paled. "It's just a story, Cat," Jade said lightly.

"It's still scary," Cat said, in a small, scared tone.

"Come on, now you get to tell one."

"No," Cat said. She didn't want scary, gruesome words to be coming out of her mouth. "I don't know any, anyway."

Jade sighed. She figured that was the end of scary story time. Cat didn't know any and if she told any more the girl wouldn't sleep. "Okay. Let's go to sleep then," Jade said.

Cat was hesitant. She wasn't sure she could sleep, and she didn't want to just lay there, prey for whatever may come. But if she fell asleep she wouldn't be scared anymore. So reluctantly, she agreed and laid next to Jade. She wished the sleeping bags weren't in the way so she could cuddle up next to Jade.

After a few minutes of not being able to fall asleep, she said, "Jade, I can't sleep."

Jade, who had been starting to doze off, mumbled, "Mmm. Nothing's going to happen."

"But I'm scared," Cat said, burying half her face in the sleeping bag.

"I'm here," Jade said. "And monsters don't like me. You'll be okay."

Cat thought about that for a second, and felt herself relax a little. But then she heard some faint noise outside. "What was that?" she whispered.

"What?" Jade asked, not having heard anything.

Cat listened to the silence outside. She heard it again. It sounded like..._dripping_. "Jade," Cat said, elongating the first syllable, tears filling her eyes.

"What?" Jade asked gently, more awake now, aware of Cat's terrified tone.

Suddenly, something fell on top of the tent, like a hundred little somethings, and they were surrounded by the sound of the falling things. The girls let out a startled yelp in unison, and scrambled to get up. As Jade was rushing to get out of the trap that her sleeping bag had become, it registered in her brain that the noise outside, and the things falling on the tent, was rain. "Cat, wait," she said and reached for the girl's wrist.

Cat turned back to look at Jade when the girl had hold of her wrist; she was already out of her sleeping bag and ready to bolt out. Jade felt sympathy for the girl when she saw the most horrified look she had ever seen on Cat's face. She smiled gently at Cat and said, in a comforting voice, "It's just rain."

It took a second for the words to click, but when they did, Cat listened and visibly relaxed when her ears confirmed it. She breathed out, relieved. Just then, the back door opened and the girls heard Jade's mom calling out to them. "Girls, you should come inside, don't want to get sick. You can camp out in the living room."

Cat looked at Jade and asked, "Can we sleep in your room?"

Cat always felt safe in Jade's bed, with the girl sleeping soundly next to her. Jade smiled and nodded her head. She would make sure to stay extra close to the girl.


End file.
